Anneke van Baalen, HIDDEN MASCULINITY, Max Weber's historical sociology of bureaucracy. 1994
Chapter 6. Feudalism. Decentralization of patrimonialism into political domination by an hierarchy of
free men
99
Chapter 6. Feudalism. Decentralization of patrimonialism into political domination by
an hierarchy of free men
1. Feudalism between patrimonial hierarchy and charismatic fraternization - 99
2. The breach with kinship by charismatic robber bands and other military
fraternizations - 100
3. Feudalism as affiliation of free men with patrimonial power; fusion of contradictory
patriarchal and charismatic aspects - 102
4. Feudal mentality and education - 103
5. Feudalism and the decentralization of patrimonial power - 104
6. England: centralized feudalism and rule by honoratiores; justices of the peace and
gentlemen - 105
7. Weber's contrast between feudal Great Britain and patrimonial Germany - 109
1. Feudalism between patrimonial hierarchy and charismatic fraternization
As I explained in my previous chapter, Weber's conceptualization of the particular 'estate'
character of Western-European medieval patrimonialism anticipates his treatment of 'free
feudalism' as a contractual relationship between free men. To accentuate its specific
character, Weber differentiates 'free feudalism' from feudalism in the wider sense, which he
defines as 'the rule of a military landed aristocracy.'¹ Following the latter definition, traditional
historical science has named the Greek social formation 'polis-feudalism', because the
antique Greek style of life resembled that of the medieval Western European knights;
Weber, however, rejects this term as the Greeks did not have a system of fiefs or of vassal
fealty.² Feudalism is 'a world-wide phenomenon in all epochs', as long as one defines 'fief'
as 'any grant of rights, especially of land use or of political territorial rights, in exchange for
military duties'.³ Such a relationship between the vassal and his lord, however, lacks the
'cosmos of piety rights and duties' characterizing 'free feudalism' as a specifically 'occidental'
phenomenon, which influenced the 'status honor' of Western European patrimonial officials
in such an decisive way.
Weber conceptualizes 'free feudalism' as a form of patrimonialism in which the officials do
not formally submit to the patriarchal power of the lord. They keep their freedom by
concluding a fraternalization contract, in which they offer their military or administrative
services in exchange for a fief, a grant of seigneurial powers:
'Appropriated seigneurial powers will be called a fief if they are granted primarily to particular qualified individuals
by a contract and if the reciprocal rights and duties involved are primarily oriented to conventional standards of
status honor, particularly in a military sense. If an administrative staff is primarily supported by fiefs, we will speak
of [Western] f e u d a l i s m
.'
4
According to Weber, feudalism develops in natural economies primarily for military reasons,
in circumstances in which the patrimonial lord has no other possibility to organize a
professional army; this is the case when the lord's subjects have to work on the land and are
1
ES p. 1070, WG p. 625.
2
See ES p. 261, WG p. 153: 'B. so-called "polis" feudalism, resting on real or fictitious "synoikism" of landlords.
These enjoy equals rights in the conduct of a purely military mode of life with high status honor.' See further ES
p. 1070, 1072, 1105, WG p. 625, 627, 650.
3
ES p. 1071, WG p. 626.
4
ES p. 235, WG p. 136.
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